It Started with a Letter
by The Heart's Desires
Summary: "I've missed you Misty, I really have. Five years have passed and there hasn't been a day that I haven't thought about you."


**A/N: Please enjoy the story and excuse any grammar/plot mistakes! **

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon.

~~~~~(o)~~~~~

"Okay Starmie! Finish it off with a watergun attack!" yelled Misty. Her voice boomed in the spacious gym stadium.

"Bulbasaur, quick! Dodge Starmie's attack!" cried Misty's opponent.

The grass Pokémon stood its ground (or small platform, I should say) as it watched as Starmie rise up and sprayed its water gun. Obeying his master's order, the tired Pokémon tried jumping toward a nearby platform in the pool. Unfortunately for Bulbasaur, it had jumped a few minutes too late. Bulbasaur was hit dead-on and it fell backwards, unconscious.

Starmie took its place on its own platform near its trainer. Misty smiled proudly.

"Aw man! I thought a grass type Pokémon would always beat a water type Pokémon!" The trainer took out a poke ball and returned his Bulbasaur. Looking at his poke ball fondly, he spoke to it softly.

"Thanks buddy. Now, get some rest." Turning toward Misty, he grinned. "Thanks Misty for a great battle! I know I've got a lot to learn now that I'm starting out as a trainer but I'll be back stronger and smarter! I'll beat you next time, and claim the Cascade badge!"

Misty's smile widened at the trainer's enthusiasm and couldn't help herself from chuckling out loud. "I look forward to our next battle, Joey. You and Bulbasaur take care!" She waved goodbye as the trainer Joey walked out the gym.

Looking at Starmie, she returned it inside its poke ball. "You've done a good job Starmie, now get a well deserved rest."

Misty took one last look at the doors Joey passed through before she disappeared through the hallway. _'He reminds me a little bit of Ash…' _

~~~~~(o)~~~~~

Misty munched on a well-deserved apple as she watched television in the kitchen.

"World famous Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town defeats another worthy opponent in the Orange Islands. His opponent, renowned trainer Mikii Ke, has been training for the day to defeat Ketchum; however, it would seem that she would have to continue training to battle him again."

The TV reporter droned on as pictures of Ash and Mikii flashed repeatedly throughout the screen. Misty stopped chewing the few pieces of apple in her mouth and stared sadly into the TV as the reporter interviews Ash.

"Well, she was a tough one, I'd gotta say," Ash laughed out. Turning his head, he petted Pikachu on its head. "But with Pikachu and all my loyal Pokémon, I was able to pull through. I…"

"Wow, is that Ash? My, my, now I see why you're drooling baby sister! He's a totally hunk!" Daisy gushed as she hugged Misty from behind. Misty, unprepared for the attack, stiffened. Quickly realizing that it was only her sister, Misty processed what her sister had said and blushed a deep scarlet red.

"W-w-hat? I'm not drooling!" denied Misty. Looking down, she quickly realized that she was drooling, but for a different reason. Her saliva had built up in her apple-filled mouth with nowhere to go except out her mouth and down. Misty dropped her half-eaten apple on the kitchen table and grabbed a napkin. Misty spit out her apple pieces in a garbage can and vigorously wiped her mouth.

"Oh ho, baby sister. Don't wipe your mouth too hard," Misty turned around at the new voice entering the room. "I know you have a potty mouth, but we don't want you to hurt yourself." Violet smiled at Misty as she plucked Misty's napkin away from her. Misty glared.

"I do not have a potty mouth!" yelled Misty as she pouted.

"Sure, you don't," Violet sang to Misty's retort. "Even after five years, you still act like a child, baby sister."

"The mails here!" cried another voice down the hallway. All three sisters watched their sister Lily enter the room and hand Daisy the mail. Violet and Misty continued arguing while Lily slowly joined in to tease their youngest sibling. Daisy, meanwhile, sat down on a chair and shifted through the mail.

"Bill, bill, bill, junk, bill…oh, what's this?" Daisy inquired as she raised a simple blue envelope up above her head. The other sisters suddenly stopped bickering and stared at the letter with mild curiosity.

"Who's it addressed to?" Lily asked as she walked over to her older sister.

"It might be from one of our fans, Lily," Violet replied as she followed Lily to the kitchen table.

"Let's look at who it's addressed to," Daisy swiftly turned the envelope right side up and the words "To Misty" stared back at her in elegant black font. All three sisters looked at each other with a surprised and curious expression. Slowly, Daisy turned her head.

"Baby sis, this letter is for you."

Misty, from her corner near the TV, looked at Daisy curiously. She walked over and took the envelope from her elder sister. As she proceeded with opening the envelope, she watched, out of the corner of her eye, her sisters leaning closer and closer to her.

Misty quickly turned around and walked to a corner of the kitchen. She stuck out her tongue at her sisters as she took out the letter and read it silently to herself.

_My lovely Misty, _

_It has been too long since I've last seen you. My journeys have been lonely without your presence. You have always been there to encourage me, and help me through the tough times. You were one of my best friends, and now I feel like you may be something more. I wish to see you again…_

"Aww! Isn't that sweet? Misty has a secret admirer!" Daisy said behind Misty. Having been too focused reading the note, Misty had failed to see her sisters sneaking up on her from behind.

"Are you sure? Who's it from?" Violet quickly snatched the letter from Misty's hands. Ignoring Misty's angry protest, Violet quickly read the letter and flipped it around for the name of the sender.

"Hm. It's for Misty but the sender is too chicken to tell her who he is," Violet laughed lightheartedly.

"Well girls, you know what that means," Daisy clasped her hands together. Striking a pose, she yelled, "Detective time!"

Misty stared wide-eyed at the eldest sister and rapidly shook her head. "You don't have to do that Daisy! I can figure it out myself! I—"

Daisy clamped her hand on Misty's mouth and smiled. "Don't worry little sis, your older sisters are on the case. Just leave it to us!"

"Hm," Violet scratched her chin as she shut her eyes to think, "She has traveled with Ash, Tracey, and, like, who was that Pokémon breeder? Block?"

"Brock!" Misty yelled, a bit frustrated with her sisters. Her face was flushed with anger and embarrassment at the thought that any of her friends could be her secret admirer. "I don't need your help, you guys! I—"

"Oh! And there's that rival of Ash that Misty has encountered a few times. Hm, write him down Lily," Violet continued on.

"I—" Misty started but was quickly cut off by the sound of knocking.

"Better get it before your secret admirer runs off leaving you with another letter," Daisy teased. She then gave Misty a slight push toward the door. Misty huffed and mumbled something about "annoying, nosy sisters" as she walked toward the gym's front door.

Upon reaching the doors, Misty breathed and opened the door. She was quickly met with a bright smile of her artistic friend, Tracey Sketchit.

~~~~~(o)~~~~~

"So let me get this straight, you came here so you can get a few sketches of my Psyduck?" Misty asked as walked Tracey down to the pool.

"Yes, your Psyduck is probably the only one of its kind. I can't find another one that can't swim or battle without getting a headache first," Tracey replied. Misty sweat dropped.

"I guess I could take that as a compliment…," Misty laughed nervously. She then took out a poke ball and clicked on the button. "Go Pyduck!" she cried.

In a flash of light, the said water Pokémon appeared with a confused look on its face. "Psy-duck?"

"Okay Psyduck! I need you to pose for my friend; he needs a drawing of you," Misty asked sweetly. Psyduck stared at his trainer and tilted his head to the side. "Duck?" Misty hung her head in exasperation.

"Haha, it's okay Misty. I can draw him like this too," Tracey smiled. Putting down his backpack, he pulled out his sketchbook and proceeded to draw.

Plopping down next to Tracey, Misty watched her friend draw her Psyduck. _'He draws really well…so that might mean he has nice handwriting...' _Misty widened her eyes at the realization, _'He could have written the letter!' _Misty shook her head with that thought in mind_. 'But I don't like him that way!'_

"Hey Misty? Are you okay?"

Misty raised her head and looked at Tracy who stared back worriedly. "Uh, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about," Misty laughed a bit hesitantly. "Um, would you mind doing me a favor?"

"Sure, what is it Misty?"

"Can you write something for me?"

"Oh, okay. What do you want me to write?" Tracey said with a raised eyebrow. He flipped to a white page on his sketchbook. Then he positioned his pencil at the top of the page.

"Um," Misty quickly racked her brain for ideas. "Write me a short description of Psyduck's outer appearance…please."

"Okay, I'll try," Tracey took a few glances at Psyduck and started writing. After a few minutes, he ripped out the paper from his sketchbook and handed it to Misty.

"Here you go Misty; I hope it'll help you in whatever you need it for," Tracey stood up and grabbed his backpack. "Thanks for letting me sketch Psyduck, Misty. I need to go now; I'll see you later."

Tracey's words fell on deaf ears as Misty squinted to read Tracey's handwriting._ 'His handwriting is atrocious! I can barely read it! I guess he's not the one who sent me the letter.'_

Hearing some commotion from the front of the gym, Misty ran toward the entrance while her Psyduck wobbled toward the pool.

~~~~~(o)~~~~~

"Are you Misty's secret admirer?"

"Did you send Misty this letter?"

"Oh! I can see it now! It's so romantic!"

Tracey was pushed against the door as the three sensational sisters asked a truckload of questions all at the same time. Tracey placed up his hands and desperately tried to answer all the questions the Cerulean sisters had but was continually cut off by the sisters' insistent questions.

Misty entered the room and blinked. Tracey looked at Misty with pleading eyes, as if silently asking her to put him out of this chaos.

"Daisy, Violet, Lily! You're scaring him!" Misty yelled, with two hands on each side of her mouth to project her voice at her sisters.

All three sisters stopped their questions and backed off Tracey.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Tracey. Like, where are our manners?" Daisy apologized. Violet and Lily nodded. "Just answer us one question, did you send this letter to Misty?" Daisy raised the said letter up in his face.

"No, why would I need to?" Tracey answered with a breath of relief. "Misty lives close enough for me to walk over to visit her."

"Oh, I guess you're not her secret admirer."

"Hm? Misty, you received a love letter?" Tracey glanced at the Misty. The Cerulean gym leader blushed.

"Yes…," Misty replied shyly.

"Well, I'll keep a lookout for anyone who might have sent you the love letter," Tracey said, walking out the door. Unfortunately for Tracey, it seemed as if fate didn't want to leave the gym just yet.

"What love letter?"

Tracey looked up at the person who he bumped into. He grinned when he saw it was only Brock. "Hello Brock, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to return some water Pokémon that I borrowed from Misty for research. But what's this love letter I hear, is it from Ash?" Brock asked with a slight smile.

"What? No! I mean, I don't know. W-w-hy would you say that?"

"Oh nothing, just wondering," Brock said, still smiling as Misty stared at him suspiciously. "By the way, thank you for lending me some of your water Pokémon, it really helped with—"

"PSYDUCK! Duck, duck…"

"Oh no! That sounds like Psyduck's in trouble!" Daisy screamed.

Everybody ran into the pool area and sure enough, Psyduck was drowning in the middle of the pool.

"Ugh," Misty groaned and slapped a hand on her forehead. "I left him unattended. I forgot to return him in his poke ball."

"Well, don't stand there! Do something Misty!" Daisy cried.

Misty reached down to grab a poke ball on her belt. Having grabbed Starmie's poke ball, she readied herself to call her Pokémon out. "Starmie! I— "

"Go Blastoise! Save Psyduck!"

Blastoise suddenly appeared and jumped into the pool. It quickly grabbed the waddling psyduck and dragged it towards Misty. Misty picked her Pokémon up and confusedly thanked Blastoise for his brave action. Placing him gently on the ground, Misty moved back as Brock pressed on the Pokémon's body. Water immediately came out of its mouth. Turning around, she was met with the one and only Gary Oak.

"No need to thank me Red; but you owe me a favor though," Gary winked.

"What? Fine, what do you want Oak?" Misty frowned with her arms crossed.

"Well, you see Red, I need to spend a day here to research some of the water pokemon in this gym for gramps. And for that favor…," Gary lifted Misty's chin. Mischievous hazel eyes stared back at confused seaform blue one, "what about a kiss for my services?"

"You let go of her Gary!" Everybody turned to the speaker who was dressed in a black T-shirt and blue jeans. On top the person's head was a red and white hat with a green design in the front of it. A Pikachu trailed not far behind.

"Ash?" Misty cried incredulously.

Looking at Misty, he gave a nervous hello and a slight wave.

~~~~~(o)~~~~~

"So what brings you here, Ashy-boy? And what's with the old get-up?" Gary asked with a bit of indifference.

Misty stood awkwardly a little way from Gary and close to Ash. Beforehand, Ash had yanked Misty away from Gary but quickly took a step back when he saw how close he was to her. "I…I mean, we," Ash paused to gesture toward Pikachu, "wanted to visit Misty and I thought it would cool if I dressed up like the Pokémon trainer I was when I battled Misty for the Cascade badge. Unfortunately, my old vest and gloves doesn't fit me anymore. I was hoping to get a battle too; though I was not expecting a full audience," Ash said, as he scratched his head. A soft blush graced his sharpened features as he looked down.

"Oh, of course we can battle Ash. How about a one on one?"

Ash looked up and smirked. "You're on, Misty!"

"But first, can you answer one question?"

"Hm, how about this: if you win, I'll answer whatever questions you have. If I win, you have to go somewhere with me," Ash said with a smile.

Misty huffed and crossed her arms. "Why do you have to be so stubborn? Fine. Let's go."

~~~~~(o)~~~~~

"Okay Pikachu! I choose you!" Ash cried. Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and onto a platform in the pool.

Misty fingered a poke ball on her belt. "Gyrados, I choose—"

"DUCK!" Psyduck stood on the platform on in front of Misty. Somehow it had gotten in the water and "swam" to the platform. Misty sweat dropped.

"That's one determined Pokémon," Daisy commented.

"You know the rules Misty, you can't recall your Pokémon," Ash teased, "Pikachu, do iron tail! But be careful of hitting its head!"

"Psyduck! Get in the way of Pikachu's iron tail!"

Everybody sweat dropped.

Unfortunately for Misty, all Psyduck did was cock his head to the side and stare at the incoming Pokémon. "Duck?"

With Pikachu's iron tail attack, Psyduck went back into the water and started drowning.

"Blastoise! Save Psyduck!" Gary yelled. "What kind of water pokemon doesn't know how to swim?" Gary asked with a shake of his head.

Blastoise once again saved the pokemon from drowning.

"Because Psyduck is unable to battle, Pikachu is the winner!" Brock cried out.

"Yeah!" Ash pumped his fist into the air, "Thanks Pikachu!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu replied back.

"That was a cheap shot Ash! You know Psyduck's no good in battle unless he has a headache!"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I will still answer any questions you may have after you follow me somewhere; there's something I want to tell you …," Ash saw everybody else getting ready to leave. "Alone."

"Aw, party pooper," Daisy cried out with her arms crossed.

"Come on Misty," Ash smiled as she got close to him. Then he quickly grabbed her hand. Misty blushed and only thought of how soft his hands were.

~~~~~(o)~~~~~

"Where are we Ash?" Misty asked. Looking around, she was on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Peering down, Misty saw the waves hit the cliff repeatedly. A lighthouse stood a few feet away.

"Somewhere where we can finally be alone," Ash breathed out. Then he knelt down on one knee.

Misty held her breath.

He extended his arms…

…and started to sing.

Misty breathed out again and started laughing.

Ash quickly stopped. "What's the matter Misty? Do I have a horrible voice?" Ash asked hesitantly. At this point, Ash had turned beet red from embarrassment and pushed down his hat. "Maybe I shouldn't have done that…" Ash said sadly.

Misty stopped her laughter as she looked down at Ash's crouched position. She knelt down and took his hands so that he stood up when she stood up. Ash, still embarrassed, kept his head turned away from Misty.

"Ash, please look at me," Misty let go of one of Ash's hand and turned him to face her. She looked up into his sad eyes. "I thought it was something else. I'm touched that you're trying to serenade me, but what is it that you want to say to me?"

Ash's sad eyes peered into Misty's curious blue eyes. Suddenly he wrapped his arms tightly around Misty's waist and pushed her body close to his. Inhaling her scent, he placed his chin on top of her head as Misty stood stiffly in his embrace.

"I've missed you Misty, I really have. Five years have passed and there hasn't been a day that I haven't thought about you," Ash tightened his grip on Misty, as if he was afraid that she would disappear if he didn't hold on tight enough. "I had to see you, and tell you how I felt. I had sent the letter to show that someone loved you so you wouldn't try to chase after another guy. I planned this whole elaborate scheme so I could tell you at my own term and my own time."

Misty placed her head on Ash's chest and inhaled his earthy scent. She silently listened to his rapid heartbeat.

Ash laughed dryly and pulled Misty from under him. "But everything didn't go according to plan; I guess you're Gary's girl now. I just…needed you to know how I felt about you."

"Ash…," was all Misty said before she placed her lips on his frowning ones. Misty snaked her arms around him and pulled him as close as she could to her. Ash, finally getting over his surprise, wrapped one arm around Misty's waist and the other one tangled itself in her long orange locks. Ash smiled against the kiss as Misty's lips continued to move with his. Ash, getting bored with playing her hair, pushed Misty's head towards him to deepen the kiss. Misty's hands slide down from his shoulders to chest and stayed there. Then they broke apart.

"What…about Gary?" Ash asked, a bit breathless and with a goofy smile on his face.

"What about Gary?" Misty asked back. "I was never his girl, but I'm finally yours."

Ash grinned. "Yes, you're finally mine."

And they sealed that agreement with a kiss.

~~~~~(o)~~~~~

**A/N: Woah! I hit nine pages when I was planning to only write 5! Haha, I'm so proud of myself because I'm exhausted! I really hope you enjoyed my story. Originally, the story was something about makeup but it became, eh, this. It is a little something dedicated to my friend xMikii because she likes the pairing of Ash and Misty. Me, I prefer Misty and Gary because they both have more fire in them, haha. **

**Most likely, I'm not going to write another Ash and Misty story unless someone requests it or tells me if this story is any good. So please review! **


End file.
